A Long Road to Happiness
by Readingescape555
Summary: Clary Morgenstern is a sophomore in high school who wants nothing more than to live a simple lifestyle filled with art. However, with bullies and an overbearing brother, how could she possible live an average life? Jace has been her brother's best friend since elementary school who only sees Clary as a little sister, or so she thought. Will Jace change her outlook on life?
1. Golden Princes and Overbearing Brothers

**Hi, everyone! My name is Clary (I swear on all the books in my bookshelf I've had this nickname since birth) and this is my first fanfiction! I'm a little bit nervous, but I think I've read enough of these to get the gist of what to do. I'm going to try to post new chapters every week, but I'm kind of busy… so don't judge. I really hope you guys like it and please please PLEASE leave a review because tips on how to improve are always great. Sorry for the longish intro, it won't be like this every week. Enjoy** **A Long Road to Happy** **!**

 **-Bookescape555**

 **Unfortunately, I do not own** _ **The Mortal Instruments**_ **by Cassandra Clare. All rights go to the amazing goddess herself.**

Chapter 1: Golden Princes and Overbearing Brothers

 _The prince, with his luminous golden eyes and matching head of hair, strode toward me with a confident strut. I blushed as red as my rose-colored hair, wondering how I could have found someone as perfect as he. The prince smirked, utterly aware of my awkwardness._

" _Clary," he murmured lightly. "Wake up. Come on, asshole." Did the prince just call me an asshole…?_

I was jutted out of my fantasy as a pillow smacked into my face.

"Honestly, do I have to get some ice cubes or something to wake you up every morning?!" My older brother asked.

"Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern! What the hell are you doing in my room?!" I shrieked.

My immature older brother, Jon, shook his head with a slight smile on his face.

"You did this to yourself, Shortstuff. Mom has been calling you for like 10 minutes."

Still hazy from the somewhat familiar prince, I groan and rub my eyes. I sidelong glance at my clock to see it reads 7:00 and I-

"7 O'CLOCK?! Thanks for giving me enough time to get ready; I only have a half an hour now!" I manage to scream as I scramble around my bedroom, gathering my things.

Jon just laughs and lazily walks out, sidestepping the pillow I viciously threw at him. I raced over to the bathroom connected to my room and looked at myself in the mirror. Momentarily I forgot about the rush I was in and dreamt about what life would be like if I had gotten my mother's grace or my father's powerful stance. But no luck. I got my mom's curly red hair, green eyes, and petite frame while my brother was basically an exact replica of our dad- blonde, almost white, hair, striking black eyes, and a slightly muscular and tall frame.

I sighed, combing my hair and applying some mascara and eyeliner. I didn't wear as much makeup as the girls at my school, but I wasn't as slutty as them either. Realizing the time, I raced out of my room and threw on the first thing I saw in my closet, which just so happened to be my favorite pair of boyfriend jeans and a black t-shirt. I flung my hair into a pony-tail and sprinted downstairs.

My parents were seated at our glass table in the dining room. They were calming sipping their coffee as I tripped down the long set of stairs, desperately trying to shove my dark blue sneakers on. My mom giggled and my dad shook his head with shame.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Clarissa-" I interrupted my dad abruptly.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I need to get my act together so I can 'revive the Morgenstern name after Jonathan ruined it,'" I stated. My father nodded and my mother sighed.

"Better get going before Jon leaves without you," my mom reminded.

Absentmindedly, I nodded my head. _Where have I seen that prince before?_ I wondered.

I waved goodbye and stumbled outside toward my brother's bright red Lamborghini. Yes, my family is insanely rich. My dad is the head of a high-selling business dealership and my mom has been selling her painting to world-class museums for years. But really, I don't care. My parents are never home and I don't like all of the attention I get, so being rich isn't really all I thought it would be. I slipped inside the car and Jon started it up.

"So are we picking up any sluts today?" I questioned.

"Sure, if you consider Jace a slut… which I do in some sense." Jon replied.

Jace Herondale. My brother's best friend ever since elementary school and eternal pain in my butt. I never knew why he annoyed me so much. He's just so...Jacey… He plays around with girls for a week, then breaks their heart. Even though he's a man-whore, there's always been something about him that I could never decipher that draws me to him. With his arrogance and good looks… I honestly don't know what I see in him. It's not like it's a big deal anyway.

I'm drawn out of my thoughts when the car door opens and slams shut. Jace plops down on the seat and smiles at me.

"Good morning, Rosebud," he says as a greeting.

I glare at him, then give him a passive-aggressive smile. "Morning, man-whore."

Jace laughs and faces Jon.

"Hey, man. You excited to get some action with Aline and Kaelie today?" Jace asks enthusiastically. Jon grins maniacally and fist-bumps Jace whilst paying attention to the road. I close my eyes and smack my hands over my ears.

"If I wanted to listen to someone talk about 'getting some action', I would have talked to Sebastian!" I said.

Both of the boy's eyes darken and Jon responds, "That's funny if you think we're letting you anywhere near him after what happened this summer."

"And it's also funny that you think I would want to. It's called a joke, dumbass. Get a dictionary and look up the meaning."

None of us talk for the rest of the ride. Jon pulls up to our school; Idris High. I grudgingly unbuckle my seatbelt, until a hand shoots out in front of me. Jon looks hesitant, but he starts anyway.

"I wasn't kidding when I said we aren't letting you near him," He says seriously.

I scoff and respond, "I think I can take care of myself, thank you very much." I pull on the door handle until it opens and I run out before either Jace or Jon can muster another word.

Realizing the boys couldn't have seen me, a short sophomore, in this large crowd of people, I slow my pace and begin to look for Isabelle, Simon, Magnus, Alec, Maia, or Jordan. Our group of friends began in middle school history class when we pranked our teacher by pretending to be mannequins **(my friend's class actually did this...)**. We've all been close ever since. I finally manage to see over the sea of heads and spot them. I rush over with my backpack in a small, red tow.

Izzy is the first person to recognize me.

"Clare-bare! I haven't seen you in, like, 2 days!" Izzy shouts excitedly.

I chuckle. "It's called the weekend, Iz."

She frowns for a moment then goes back to hugging her boyfriend and my best friend, Simon. After the group greets me, we head inside to our first period classes. My schedule goes as followed: art, science, French, lunch, math, history, English. Since we all decided to change our classes so that we have them all together, we all headed to art.

Art. My favorite hobby. If I were being held captive by a killer dolphin with 6 heads and it forced me to do something of my choice for the rest of my life, it would be art. The only problem was my annoying teacher, Mr. Serepella. He's only there for the money; not the actual concept. I don't really know how he got the job considering the best thing he has ever drawn was a stick figure holding a fork. But at least all we do is free draw. We walk into class and Mr. S greets us will a grimace. I roll my eyes and begin to sketch my base drawing. I eventually decide to draw my dream from earlier today; maybe it will trigger something inside me to realize what made it seem so familiar.

At the end of class, I had come up with the main components of the body- I was satisfied for this class. My next two classes went by in a blur and before I knew it, I was sitting at my lunch table. In my school, all of the grades have the same lunch period together, so lucky me; I had to face the two most idiotic boys I know.

"Iz, I'm trying to avoid Jon and Jace. Please hide me?" Izzy looked confused at first, but eventually gave in. We speed-walked into lunch with my other friends at my back. We quickly found the table located the farthest possible place from my brother's football team. I thanked Izzy and began to unwrap my sandwich as two girls in high heels, short skirts, and tank tops strutted past our table.

"Well lookie here. If it isn't little Strawberry!" The taller and blonder of the two commented.

"Thanks, Kaelie. I just so happen to love strawberries," I smiled cheekily at the queen slut herself. "And also, you're not at work, so maybe save the stripper outfit for tonight." I winked at her.

"Oh really? Because I just so happen to like _my_ strawberries," the shorter and darker haired girl, Aline, replied while looking me up and down. "a lot thinner. And at least she'd be making more money than you." The girls laughed in high-pitched voices as Kaelie noticed my sketchbook hidden in my bag. She stopped laughing and swiped it up before I could take it away. She opened it with disgust.

"You were right, Aline. She won't make any money with trash." I blushed and Kaelie threw my sketchbook on the floor and walked over it with her petty heels. I yelped and grabbed it before any real damage could be done. I looked over at my fuming table.

"I freaking hate those two," Alec seethed. "They think they're so much better than everyone else."

"And her makeup was all over the place," Magnus stated critically. The whole table murmured in agreement. As I glanced around the cafeteria, I noticed two pairs of eyes stuck on me like glue. I flinched and cursed silently. Jon started to stand up, Jace already standing. Before they could make their way to me, I darted to the girls restroom with Izzy, noticing the tension in my shoulders, close on my heels.

I pushed the door open and Izzy immediately began consoling me.

"You know how stupid they are. They don't even know what they're talking about and you're definitely not fat and you're an _amazing_ artist and-" I cut her off from her rambling.

"Yeah, Iz. I know how stupid they are. I'm fine," I stated. Izzy looked hesitant to give her affirmative, but I put up a convincing fake smile which seemed to ease her nerves.

"Let's wait here until lunch is over. I can't take anymore drama for one day," I explained. Izzy nodded her head and made her way over to the mirror to fix her makeup while I slumped down on the wall. My thoughts began to overwhelm me as I ran over the previous scene again and again.

 _I know Izzy said I'm not fat… but she has to say that. Whatever. Their opinion doesn't even matter, Clary. Be confident and all that crap._

But it wasn't that simple. After Sebastian- did what he did… I haven't been the same. People's views on my appearance actually started to matter. However, I pushed those thoughts aside and put up my fake smile. _Just keep smiling,_ I thought to myself. _No one will know the difference._

Izzy and I talked for the few minutes that were left of lunch, then headed to the rest of our classes. Every other class was uneventful and boring, so I was half excited to go home. The other half of my brain drifted to Jace and Jon, who no doubt are going to try to talk to me about this morning. I decided to ignore them and keep my chin up.

Swiftly, I packed up by bag and slipped into the car parked in front of the school. I clicked on my phone which buzzed with some notifications.

A text from Mom

Four texts from Jon

And one twitter notification from… Kaelie.

 **Yeah, I tried my best. Sorry if the ending wasn't as suspenseful as it could have been, but I'm proud of myself for my first chapter! Anyway, I have a vague idea where this is going and** _ **if you aren't comfortable with eating disorders, then a few chapters might not be for you.**_ **I will put a warning for the chapters that contain them, but I don't want that to be the main focus of this story. Please remember to REVIEW, FOLLOW, AND FAVORITE! The reviews are what I'm most concerned about, so if you guys want this to keep going, then I really need some reviews. Thank you so much for reading, until next week!**

 **-Bookescape555 (Clary)**


	2. Not Okay

**Welcome back!** _ **Thank you so much**_ **to the people who reviewed; I really wasn't expecting reviews until I started to become bigger. I sort of kind of fangirled after seeing over 100 FRIGGIN VIEWS. HOLY CATS. But anyway, someone asked a question about my updating schedule. For now, I'm probably going to update on Fridays…? However, I do have a lot of stuff to do, so please don't judge me too harshly. And there will be some days, like today, where I just really need to write in order to stay sane or I'm just feeling nice and wanted to reward you guys for reviews, favorites, and all that crap ;) So here is chapter 2 of A Long Road to Happiness!**

 _ **WARNING: THERE ARE TRIGGERS IN THIS CHAPTER. IF YOU FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE WITH CUTTING AND EATING DISORDERS, USE THE BOLD WARNING SIGNS TO SKIP THOSE SCENES.**_

 **~ Bookescape555 (Clary)**

 **All rights to the fab Cassandra Clare. I am not brilliant enough to come up with** _ **The Mortal Instruments**_

Chapter 2: Not Okay

 _(Previously…)_

 _Swiftly, I packed up by bag and slipped into the car parked in front of the school. I clicked on my phone which buzzed with some notifications._

 _A text from Mom_

 _Four texts from Jon_

 _And one twitter notification from… Kaelie._

(Current)

I froze in complete shock. I knew this couldn't be good, considering what happened at lunch. I decided to check it later; I had better things to worry about.

As I turned off my phone, two door opened and in popped Jace and Jon. They were wearing mischievous smiles on their faces, and any type of mischief from these two baboons can't be good. After a few seconds of silence, I jumped up in an attempt to escape from the car. Jace, being on the same side of the car, grabbed my waist and hoisted me up.

"Jace! What the h-" I stopped short, realizing the intimate position we were in. I blushed and shoved him away.

"Fine I give up. Now what the hell do you want?" I asked grudgingly.

Jon frowned. "You can't keep avoiding us for the rest of your life. We have to talk about this sometime."

"I don't even know what _this_ is! Now, Jace, get out of my way or I swear, I will kick you in your little-" I threatened, but Jace cut me off. He looked at me with mock offense.

"'Little'?! I will have you know that every girl in school wants to meet my 'little' friend!" He huffed.

I rolled my eyes and pushed him out of my path to the car. The boys sighed and sat down, but Jon wouldn't let it drop.

"Listen, Clary, I know that you can handle yourself, but I don't know what I'll do if you get hurt while I'm around to stop it."

"Jonathan. There is nothing to stop and frankly, I think I could hurt Sebastian way more than he could hurt me." I included.

"Says the girl who cried after her first roller coaster," Jace said under his breath.

"Those were tears of happiness, dipthong. And at least I don't break the hearts of every person I date!" I yelled.

"At least I can actually get a date!" Jace screamed back. "And you still wouldn't be able to get one if you change your clothes or your hair; you would still be an obnoxious little brat!"

Fuming, Jon screamed at both of us. "Will both of you shut up?! What do you have to prove, arguing with each other all the time?"

I ignored Jon and stared at Jace. He was breathing heavily and avoiding my eye contact. I turned back around and disregarded any other conversation that Jon tried to engage me in.

As we put in the gate pin code for the driveway, I sprinted to my room and didn't look back. Jace and Jon were calling my name, but I refused to stop running until I reached my bedroom.

I slipped down my door and put my head in my hands.

"No more crying, Clary. You will not be weak anymore," I repeated over and over again. Eventually, my body began to quiver and my palms began to sweat. I rose my head from my hands with tear-stained cheeks. Remembering the twitter notification, I speed-walked over to where I put down my phone and turned it on. The screen was displayed as followed:

(Screen is in underlined)

Kaelie: Shout out to clarysart for being the person she is! Really boosting everyone's self esteem knowing that no one can be as hideous as you!

A half an hour after it was posted, thirty people already liked it, fifteen people retweeted, and twenty people commented their agreements of how fat, ugly, and slutty I am. One comment in particular drew in my attention. It was Sebastian's account and it read:

Sebastian: Finally someone gets it! I was just talking to the football team about it. She's obviously a whore who only cares about herself. No wonder she'll never have a boyfriend.

My hands started shaking so hard I dropped my phone. I just stood in the center of the room wondering what I did to deserve this. I wiped my face dry of tears and headed over to the bathroom, with the previous words from my peers.

 _ **WARNING. THIS STUFF GETS INTENSE. YOU HAVE NOW BEEN WARNED.**_

As I crossed my large, white restroom, I grabbed a toothbrush and my razor and sat down on the toilet. Rolling up my sleeve, I gripped the razor until my fingers turned white. I brought the razor down to my arm and slashed across my flesh until blood started dropping on the floor. I sucked in a rigid breath, hoping that tomorrow would be cold. I think sat on the floor, lifted the toilet seat up, and leaned over it with my toothbrush. I began putting on the back of my throat until I finally began to feel nauseous and threw up. The acidic taste of the puke was retched, but I knew it would be worth it in the end. Completing my intention, I stood up soundlessly, brushed my teeth with a new toothbrush, cleaned up the blood, and walked out of the bathroom.

 _ **YOU'RE GOOD NOW. CONTINUE ON WITHOUT BEING GROSSED OUT.**_

I slipped on a sweatshirt and sat down at my desk. _I guess I'll be wearing this for a while now._ I sighed and leaned back on my chair. _And good thing it's fall. Otherwise, I wouldn't have made it through the day without rolling up my sleeves._

All of a sudden, a knock sounded at my door. I unlocked it and glanced at Jon who was looking at the ground and scratching the back of his head.

"Hey, Clare-bear. I'm sorry about before, but I-"

"It's fine. You can go now." I began closing the door on him, when he shoved his foot on the bottom of it.

"Okay, what's wrong. You would never shut me out like this."

"Wanna bet?" I tried closing it again, but he wouldn't budge.

"I'm making dinner and we're having tacos… so come downstairs," Jon replied tensely. "Jace is here too by the way."

Whoop de do. I can't wait to see the guy who just basically called me a future spinster. Apparently, we were waiting outside my door for a while because Jon sighed and dragged me to the dining room.

"I'm not hungry," I stated stubbornly. "And I'm not in the mood for tacos, anyway."

"Tough luck. You haven't eaten anything all day. Sit your ass down or I'll sit it down myself," Jon responded seriously.

"Yes, sir," I mock saluted under my breath. By the time the two of us sat down, the food was already cold and Jace was half done. Jon sighed and I tried to make my way back upstairs, but Jace's voice stopped me.

"You know I didn't mean what I said earlier," he announced. "I was caught up in the arguing and my brain wasn't responding. Am I forgiven now?" Jace grumbled. I contemplated my two options: Forgive Jace and let him leave me alone, or don't forgive him and he will continue to bother me about it. The latter didn't sound necessarily appealing, so I nodded my head and looked down at my plate. As Jace and Jon finished up their meals, I made some stupid excuse that I really had some really important homework to finish up and I needed to work on it. Suspicious, Jace looked me up and down, but the two of them agreed with mouthfuls of taco.

I trudged up the stairs, ready to be done with this crappy day. I slid on some sweatpants and climbed into my king-sized bed and crouched into the fetal position. As I laid there, I recollected the events from the day and realized what a horrible mistake I made.

 _No more cutting or throwing up. That will just lead to even worse things… bulimia, suicide. I would never do that to Jon or Izzy._ From that moment on, I would not fall into those temptations again. I finally closed my eyes after hours of recuperating my emotions. The only thing I saw when I did though, was the golden prince, back to see me again. I smiled and followed him into the darkness of my mind.

 _(In dream)_

 _The prince strode up to me once more and gathered my withering body in his arms._

" _I've missed you, Clary," he sighed. "but why would you do this to yourself?"_

 _I tensed up and responded with, "I-I didn't have a choice. It was like my body took control of me and I didn't know what to do. But I've made a promise to never do it again."_

 _I felt my prince nod his head solemnly and- come to think of it, I have never since my golden royal's full face. His eyes and hair were the only physical elements that I recognized. I raised my ruby-red hair and emerald green eyes up to his golden features and feasted my eyes upon-_

 _Jace._

 _My royal, perfect, romantic fantasy was…_

Jace.

(Out of dream)

I sputtered awake, gasping for air. I realized where I was and calmed down. Shaking my head, I gazed at the clock that read 6:00. I sighed with relief and began to get ready for a new day with… hopefully some new upbringings.

As I tugged on a heavy sweatshirt, I couldn't help but smile at my dream. _Jace Herondale_ is my prince. But I only think of him as a brother… right? Oh screw it, I've liked him since middle school. What do I do now? I can't tell him… that wouldn't make any sense. I'll just ignore it. It's just a crush… right?

All these thoughts swarmed my head as I stepped downstairs and ate my cereal in a daze, wondering what my golden prince was doing right now.

 **I hate my writing already. Whatever, I'll get better. But anyway, there's chapter 2! I definitely want the next chapter to be from Jace's POV… tell me if you guys think that's a good idea. I understand if some people didn't enjoy the cutting and stuff… I felt uncomfortable writing it; brought back bad memories. However, I don't want this story to be about that, I'm going to be adding A LOT more Clace soon! PLEASE FAVORITE, FOLLOW, AND REVIEW. I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH AND THANKS FOR READING THIS CRAP**

 **~ Bookescape555 (Clary)**


	3. IMPORTANT PLEASE READ

Hey, everyone… Yeah I'm already posting an author's note. I hate myself too. Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't updated, but I've been going through some stuff right now and a lot of my past issue have been swallowing me whole. I started writing chapter 3, but I need motivation and a desire to write. This may sound cheesey, but I literally can't do this without you guys. I'm so thankful (Happy Thanksgiving by the way!) for all my readers, but if I don't get enough reviews, then I might have to discontinue this story. Overall, thank you so much for reading, but this might be the last you hear from this story… I don't know. Please don't hate me too much for writing an author's note this early, but it had to be done. I love you all SO FRIGGIN MUCH and _**PLEASE REVIEW ON PAST CHAPTERS AND JUNK BECAUSE I WANT TO KEEP WRITING BUT WRITER'S BLOCK IS A BITCH (pardon my French).**_

~~~ Bookescape555 (Clary)


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